INCREASE IN HIGHWAY DEATHS WORTH WATCHING

A higher speed limit on the nation's highways is resulting in more traffic deaths.

A study of a dozen states shows 500 more traffic deaths on highways since speed limits were raised before April of last year.

The problem may not strictly be the speed limit itself, but the fact people are exceeding those limits.

A similar study done by the Missouri State Highway Patrol found that 42 more people died from March 1996 to March 1997 than the average in three previous years.

In March of 1996, Missouri raised rural interstates from 65 to 70 and urban interstates from 55 to 60. If Missouri lawmakers had not acted, speed limits would have reverted to the pre-1974 limits -- 70 on most roads.

At least 28 states have raised at least some highway speed limits since Congress repealed the federal limit of 55 miles per hour.

The higher speeds dictate greater use of common sense: longer following distances, stricter adherence to the posted limits, no drugs or alcohol when getting behind the wheel and extra attention during bad weather.

One year of statistics doesn't make a trend. But if the number of highway fatalities continues to climb, legislators may want to revisit highway speed limits.